


Critical Wars Episode I: The Fugitive from Felderwin

by everlightly



Series: Critical Wars: The Mighty Nein in a Galaxy Far Far Away.... [1]
Category: Critical Role (Web Series), Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Gen, I never left my Star Wars phase and this is the result, Mighty Nein AU, Mighty Nein go to SPACE!, Sprinkle is useful, Star Wars AU, but Caleb is still traumatized, critical role au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 19:21:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 20,302
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26204107
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everlightly/pseuds/everlightly
Summary: Veth Brenatto's life is devastated when the Empire invades the small town of Felderwin. She has to team up with an motley crew comprised of an Empire deserter, a gifted pilot, and a woman in search of the Rebellion. Together, they attempt escape the planet with her husband and child while avoiding the wrath of the Empire, embarking on a journey destined to change the galaxy.
Series: Critical Wars: The Mighty Nein in a Galaxy Far Far Away.... [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1903003
Comments: 45
Kudos: 85





	1. Chapter 1

A siren whirs to life, echoing through the small farming town on the planet Felderwin. Veth Brenatto knows how this goes. The siren warns the townspeople of highland raiders that would soon be descending on their town, ransacking homes, stealing food and supplies, but she has handled them before. It seems particularly early in the evening for raiders. The sun is still setting, but she supposes that this most recent band of raiders made the lethal mistake of assuming this town was unguarded.

Veth turns to her family as they sit around their table, dinner warm on their plates. 

“Take Luc and hide,” she orders, grabbing a rifle from where it lays locked safely away in its cabinet. She snatches the ammunition and loads it. Raiders she can handle. She is the best the town has in ways of defense, and even if they neighbors found some of her habits strange, they couldn’t deny she is the reason no band of highland raiders attacked this town twice. 

Yeza picks up their son, and the two of them squeeze into a closet in the corner of their kitchen. Just before he shuts the door, Veth leans in and kisses her husband on the forehead, and places a hand against her baby’s cheek.

“I’ll be back soon,” she says.

“Go kick some ass, sweetie,” Yeza replies, and the door clicks shut between them.

Veth swings the rifle over her shoulder, slips out the door and climbs up the side of their house to a perch on the roof. Peeking through the scope, she scans the hills in the distance, waiting for the shadows of the enemies to appear. 

Golden sunlight illuminates the hills, the tall grasses undisturbed. It seems as peaceful as ever this evening in the sleepy farm town. No sign of the raiders. 

She scans around her town, expecting empty streets, except for a few other halflings armed to face intruders. But instead, neighbors stand in the streets, with no weapons out and ready to defend. Children hold the hands of their parents, pointing into the sky. They all are staring at something behind Veth. Even from her perch, she can see their eyes are wide with fear. This is not the adrenaline fueled panic incited by sudden raids, but rather they are frozen in place, almost resigned in their despair. 

Veth hears an unfamiliar sound of roaring engines. She has heard it before, the few times she has traveled to the one and only spaceport on Felderwin. Small cargo ships come and go, with shipments of grains and lumber traded for medicine and essential supplies. There is little other reason to travel this far into the Outer Rim. 

It’s the sound of a ship approaching, louder than any she has heard, while also more sleek-sounding than the clanking, whirring engines of the dilapidated ships that make their way to Felderwin. 

As she turns to look over her shoulder, it’s not just one ship. It’s dozens, all descending towards the planets surface as far she as she can see. Veth looks up further in the sky, and for a moment she wonders if she is asleep and this is her nightmare.

Hovering high in the sky is the familiar triangular silhouettes of three Imperial Star Destroyers. 

The Empire just found its way to the Outer Rim. 

Veth feels her breath catch in her throat and two landing ships approach their town. With a hiss of their landing gear, the ships lower their ramps at the edge of town, only a hundred feet from where she crouches. Veth peers through the rifle’s scope trying to catch a glimpse inside the holds of the ships.

Once the ramps sink into the soft soil, two battalions of storm troopers exit the ships in perfect rows, their sleek white armor reflecting the orange light of the two setting suns. They look like embers from a fire, ready to ignite on command. Behind them, watching over the stormtroopers, is a silver-armored commander, with a long black cape, edged in red, indicating her high status within the Imperial Army.

In a panic, Veth scrambles to the other side of the roof, out of view from the army, and hopes they did not see her with a rifle in hand. She presses herself down against the thatched roof, the straw scratching at her legs and back, but she doesn’t dare move until her hands stop shaking. 

A voice echoes unnaturally loud through the town, amplified artificially.

“I am Commander DeRogna, and you are now under the protection of the Galactic Empire.”

Shaking her head and steadying her hands, Veth uses her legs to slide up the roof, and back still pressed against the thatch, she peaks over her shoulder across the roof peak.

A few halflings peak out their doors at the voice. This is definitely not a raid, but something infinitely worse. Eyes glaze over in resignation at the sight of a battalion of stormtroopers, standing in perfect obedience in front of their commander.

“In accordance with imperial law, your residences will be searched for any evidence of rebel affiliations.”

An elder halfling steps from her doorway, leaning heavily on a cane. “Our town is peaceful. We farmers have no qualms with the Empire, Commander. The nearest space port is three weeks’ journey by beast from here, and we don’t receive news outside of Felderwin. I assure you, the rebellion does not have roots in this town.” 

Silence falls as the silver-armored commander sizes up the halfling. She strides forward, between the ranks of troopers and, standing before the elder, speaks: “Your word is not enough.”

With the flick of her gloved hand, squadrons of troopers peel off towards the nearest houses. Screams echo as troopers break through doors, guns raised, and crouch to enter the small homes of halflings. 

“Search the homes! Round up all these little creatures,” DeRogna orders. Two stormtroopers step up to her side, and train their weapons at the elder.

Veth watches in horror as halflings are thrown from their homes. She catches out of the corner of her eye, a halfling who tries to slip away. He has a blaster at his side, and Veth recognizes him as one of her neighbors who would fight by her side against raiders. Two troopers spot the halfling, and they immediately raise their own guns, shouting for the halfling to freeze. Even from this distance, Veth can see the halfling shake, trying to lay down the weapon, but the troopers never give a chance for surrender. Multiple beams of red slice through the tiny body, and the halfling crumples. 

A chill crawls down her spine, as she turns and slides down the backside of the house, out of view from the approaching troopers. She slips back in through the door, barreling towards the kitchen. They can’t find weapons in this house.

She hisses through the closet door, “Yeza! Yeza, the Empire is here. You have to come out. Don’t resist them.”

Yeza cracks open the door. “The Empire?” he asks, his eyes wide. In his arms, Luc begins to fuss.

Veth frantically grabs the second pistol from the cabinet, and begins tucking the remaining ammunition from their stockpile into a knapsack to sling over her shoulder.

Yeza clutches the baby to his chest, and with a free hand grabs Veth’s arm. “What do you mean ‘the Empire’? What are you doing?”

“If they find weapons, they will kill us,” Veth says, an eerie calm falling over her. She looks into Yeza’s eyes. “Do everything they tell you, without hesitation. Keep Luc safe.”

“Where are you going?” Yeza asks again, his voice trembling. His grip tightens on her wrist, unwilling to let go.

Veth presses a kiss to her husband’s forehead. “I will find you. I promise.” 

She waits for him to let go of her arm. Yeza closes his eyes, like he can’t bear to watch as she pulls away from him. She darts out towards the back, and slips out the door, unable to look back at where Yeza stands, Luc fussing quietly into his shoulder. The suns have set further, and most of the alleys between homes are darkened with shadow. Veth disappears into the darkness, and the marching of boots grows closer to her home. 

Swiftly, she glides between shadows, moving around the outskirts towards where DeRogna had been standing in the clearing on the edge of town. She presses herself against a wall, glancing around the edge for a line of sight to the clearing. Peaking from her hiding spot, she sees halflings rounded up and thrown into a cluster guarded by a ring of stormtroopers. The commander paces before the captives, her blaster held against her chest, her cape snapping as she pivots and surveys the scene. Two troopers throw the body of the murdered halfling into the crowd. There are screams, and a few rush forward to see if they could help, but the corpse is beyond saving. 

“Commander, this halfling was armed,” one of the troopers reports, holding out the weapon. Compared to the sleek black and white standard blaster that the stormtroopers wield, this halfling’s gun is practically defunct technology.

DeRogna takes the primitive blaster and examines it, before spinning to face the elder halfling. “You claimed to be peaceful and yet you are armed?”

The elder halfling straightens. “We face attack from highland raiders. It is only in defense.”

“You attempted to deceive me,” DeRogna responds. “That is not acceptable.”

“There was no deception! I assure you, we pose no threat to the Empire,” the elder pleads, raising her hands in surrender.

“I will be sure of that,” the Commander responds. Turning to the troopers, she says, “Bring in the Fire Scourgers.”

“No, please! We are peaceful people!”

Veth feels her hands shaking both from fear and rage. She watches from the shadows as a few stormtroopers escort another group of halflings towards the center. Amongst them is a halfling man with a crying baby pressed against his chest. Yeza is ushered into the center, and the halflings make room for him to move further into the crowd, with the other parents and their young children, trying to shield them as best they can from the horrors around them.

Another squadron of nine troopers exit the drop ship, these ones different from the standard white-armored soldiers. These have a red strip running down each arm and chest, and a solid red helmet. On their backs are two cannisters, connected to a hose and blaster in their hands.

Commander DeRogna turns to the approaching unit, and they snap to attention before her. 

“Burn it all,” DeRogna orders. 

The red troopers peel off in a practiced formation. Three sets of three take point at the edges of the town, aiming their weapons at the nearest houses. There is a spark of light, and a blinding white-hot flame erupts from the barrel, immediately engulfing the small homes. More screams ring out from the crowd of halflings as the flames climb the wooden houses and catch the thatch roofs like the tinderboxes. 

The flames crawl around the side of the house behind which Veth hides. The flames scare away the shadows around her, and she retreats further into the town, away from the crowd of captives. Veth feels the numbness spread through her mind again, and she slinks back into the shadows, trying to out-pace the flames as they leap from home to home. 

Veth has to save her family. She has to get them out of here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thanks for reading the first chapter! I hope you stick with it, because I'm very excited about this series. I wrote an entire 9-work series outline in the span of about three hours on a train, so I have a lot of ideas I cannot WAIT to share. (As a side note, my brand is very much niche-crossovers, so if you like Critical Role and Star Wars, I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoy writing it. And if you like either Star Wars or Critical Role, I hope you can still enjoy the works as well!)
> 
> There's not really going to be any Star Wars spoilers, if that's a concern. It's very much the Mighty Nein re-skinned in a galaxy far far away. There is problem going to be some Campaign 2 spoilers hidden in the plot of this series, so just be warned. 
> 
> I am going to run through my vision for this whole series, just to give you an idea of what to expect. I have planned out nine "episodes" or individual works in this Critical Wars series. Each work will have between 10-15 chapters, although it seems I get more chapters with each progressive episode, haha.  
> If you catch up with the series, I usually post new chapters every Sunday, so be sure to check in then!
> 
> Again, thanks for reading!! Sending good vibes for your day~


	2. Chapter 2

Burn it all.

Fire Scourger BRN-452 peels off from the rest of the squad, following the practiced formation, weaving through the tight alleys built to accommodate these small halflings. He can already feel the heat from the flames behind him, swallowing up house after house like a starving beast. He turns and unleashes a spray of fire against a thatched roof, the dry straw immediately catching. Despite the helmet’s filters, he can vividly imagine smoke burning his eyes and throat. 

He turns and continues down the empty streets. He watches his body obeying orders, while his consciousness floats above his body, unable to stop himself from unleashing another stream of fire against an unscathed home. One of the walls collapses, and the glass window explodes outward. The flames jump easily to the next house, eating through the straw roof, and sending plumes of thick black smoke into the golden evening sky. 

It all burns so easily , he thinks. Heat radiates from the infernos consuming each home, and he feels the sweat dripping down his back under the white and red armor. Despite his training, nothing has ever prepared him for this level of heat. He has burned hologram illusions of faceless rebels and X-wing ships, but holograms don’t burn, the heat doesn’t threaten to suffocate like this.

For the past year, he has trained for this moment, his first mission for the Empire as a member of the Fire Scourgers unit. He was proud to have been selected for the newest weapon in the Empire’s arsenal for breaking a planet’s will to revolt. They were told this town posed a threat, that hidden in these houses was evidence of rebel sympathizers. That could not stand. 

BRN-452 turns to another house. If the Commander deemed these people a threat, then that is what they must be. Rebel sympathizers could look like anyone, even these halflings. That is how he was trained to think, so that is how he will continue to operate. 

The Fire Scourger feels the burning in his eyes and throat become overwhelming. The filters on his helmet must be broken. That is the only explanation for the tears streaming down his face. He removes the helmet, his consciousness snapping back into his body, rather than the disassociated, suspended state. Suddenly the heat and smoke is overwhelming. He coughs and coughs, clawing at his throat trying to take a breath that is not excruciatingly painful. The helmet falls from his hand and rolls away, and the Scourger turns his eyes upward, towards the fading reds and oranges of sunset, blending in with the colors of flames rising from the houses around him. The whole world is washed with light. 

There is a high-pitched scream of a child suddenly echoing around him. He freezes, and his gaze snaps methodically to each window in view, searching for a source of the sound. 

There, a shadow moves behind a glass window frame, two small hands fumbling with the latch.

BRN-452 jumps as a hand slams into his shoulder and he stumbles forward, just catching himself. Two more Scourgers stand behind him. He recognizes the stars scratched into the shorter one’s helmet.

EDO-114 growls, “What are you doing, Scourger?”

The female voice of STR-803 crackles through the helmet, “Did your weapon malfunction? And where is your helmet?”

“There is another halfling in there,” he says, pointing towards the shape still struggling with the window.

“It will be dead soon,” EDO-114 replies. “We have more to burn.”

“Shouldn’t we bring them to DeRogna?” BRN-452 asks. “At the center of town?”

EDO-114 slams his hand on the other trooper’s head and spins it towards the window. “Just watch. As soon as that window opens, it’s going to be dead anyway.”

In that moment, the latch on the window gives way, and as the halfling pushes open the window, air sweeps in through the opening, and the flames burst outward, completely consuming the halfling. Their high-pitched screams ring out as the body tumbles from the window, and with a dull thud, they fall silent. 

The Scourger cannot breathe. Something is terribly, terribly wrong. This cannot possibly be right. These people are farmers, not rebels. BRN-452 jerks away from the other Scourger’s grasp. He must be misunderstanding something. He is just a stormtrooper after all, not any true position of command within the Empire. He is stupid to not understand the bigger picture, the threat these creatures must pose. But these are not like the holograms they trained to fight against. There are no X-wings swooping down overhead, no rebels moving in formation against a line of stormtroopers. Everything about this is wrong.

He looks towards the burned halfling, dead in front of their collapsing home, more tears spill down his cheeks. Flames creep forward, consuming the corpse. Flakes of blackened skin flake off and float upwards with the smoke.

STR-803 looks around, without noticing the shift in her fellow Scourger’s demeanor. “Your helmet is not around here. Was it broken? Where did you discard it?”

BRN-452 straightens, and without a word turns to head back to the town center. 

EDO-114 follows closely behind, calling after him, but the soldier continues without acknowledgment.

“What is going on?” STR-803 asks the other. “What’s wrong with BRN-452?”

“I think he still needs further training,” EDO-114 replies. “He was just pulled out of tech engineering a few months ago. He wasn’t ready for the front lines yet. The captain was stupid to send him out here.”

BRN-452 stumbles back through the town, his eyes blurring from the heat and smoke. He finds his way back to the center of the burning town, with Commander DeRogna staring at a blue hologram projected from her bracer. He recognizes the face of his Captain from here. 

Captain Trent Ikithon is the Empire’s most valued strategist when it comes to the invasion and tactical oppression, his methods leading to swift submission from the planet’s inhabitants. The Fire Scourgers, the latest in his most recent string of experiments. Dissent whispers between ranks of the Empire about his weaponized terror. It was said that he picked broken people to join his ranks because broken people had no heart to answer to. 

His head is pounding as he stumbles forward into the clearing, and his blurring gaze settles on the halflings, grouped at the center. His eyes focus, and a tentative clarity like a cold breeze brushes through his mind, a momentary relief from the oppressive heat. In that clarity, he sees the path before him, as the sun sets and the sky turns violet.


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as the stormtrooper lets his helmet roll away, Veth sees her chance. She scoops us the helmet and darts back into the alley. She puts it over her head as the smoke billows up around her, and even though it fits loosely on her head, it helps to minimize the smoke burning her lungs and eyes. The heat is still overwhelming, but she pushes through, trying to hide as best she can in the inferno-lit streets of her town. 

Back at the center, the halflings remain guarded in the center, with six troopers patrolling the edge. It seems many of the original landing ships disembarked either back to their Star Destroyer, or perhaps to terrorize more towns of Felderwin. Only two of the ships remain, many of the troopers gone with them. 

The silver-armored commander remains though, and she surveys the destruction her soldiers wreaked. Veth could swear DeRogna almost looked bored by the scene, with her blaster loosely resting on her shoulder, her fingertips tapping impatiently on her leg. The comm link on her wrist flashes, and a fuzzy blue hologram of a man appears. Veth doesn’t dare get close enough to hear DeRogna’s low voice, but instead swings the rifle around to her front, loading the ammunition.

The Fire Scourgers slowly return to the town center, after the houses and few businesses of the area are well-coated in flames. There would be nothing left of this town in an hour, once the fire burns its way through. 

The helmet-less Scourger returns to the center, stumbling as though he is drunk. This catches DeRogna’s attention, as she closes the link with the hologram. 

“BRN-452, fall in line! You are an embarrassment,” she yells.

Two more Scourgers quickly fall in step beside him, and hold him up and in place. DeRogna sneers as she approaches, saying, “Is this weakness I see?” She backhands him hard across the face, and a trickle of blood escapes from the corner of his mouth. 

She jerks her head back towards one of the landing ships and says, “Lock him down. He needs reprogrammed.” Turning back to the other troopers, she orders, “Split them down the middle.”

There are panicked screams and frantic grabbing of spouses and children, as two troopers push through the crowd, half pushed towards the burning town, the other closer to their landing ships.

Veth feels her breathe catch in her throat. She understands what happening even before DeRogna gives the order:

“Half go to the ship. Kill the rest.”

Four troopers ready their blasters towards the crowd. Veth’s eyes hone in on a male halfling, a screaming child held tightly to his chest, and a blaster levels at his head. The rest of the halfling are herded onto the other landing ship.

Veth raises her rifle.

In that moment, the helmet-less scourger lunges away from the two holding him back, shouting, “Stop!”

DeRogna doesn’t hesitate to level her blaster in his face, pressed against his forehead. “You dare to defy me?” she hisses. Behind her, the second landing ship takes off with a roar from its engines, sending a blast of air over the clearing, and fanning the flames of the town.

Veth scans the scene in slow motion. The two Fire Scourgers stand in the way of a clear bath to DeRogna’s head, but her arm is exposed. Instead, Veth takes her shot straight through the outstretched arm of the commander, piercing through the dark gaps in the silver plated armor, forcing her hand to go limp and drop her weapon. In the next instant, she reloads and takes another shot, straight through the helmet of a white-armored stormtrooper who had been aiming at her husband.

The troopers spin away from the halflings, scanning the line of buildings where the shot came from. 

DeRogna screams, “Find the enemy and bring it to me!”

Veth’s eyes hone in on a few overturned carts, and darts towards them, taking a shot through the chest of another trooper on the way. 

Out of the corner of her eye, she spots the traitor Fire Scourger pull out two guns from holsters at his chest, taking one shot at DeRogna, who swiftly ducks out of the way and another through the leg of another Scourger. He backs away and takes cover in the alleys, just as Veth slides behind the carts. Red streaks of light slice through the wooden cart above her head, and Veth leans around the side taking two more shots. The stormtroopers hadn’t even tried to take cover, and they fall quickly, lifeless on the ground. Another volley of blasts bear down on Veth, and she takes cover again. In the distance, she watches as one of the two remaining landing ships shuts its doors, locking up half of her town in with it, before taking off. A small squadron of remaining troopers approach the cart, and Veth scrambles back towards the line of houses, dodging another spray of bullets. On her right, she watches another Scourger fall to their knees, killed by a shot that did not belong to her, but to the traitor. 

DeRogna is screaming orders, while the crowd of halflings stand frozen in the edge of the burning town. 

Just before ducking behind a burning house, Veth levels one more shot at the commander. Time slows as she feels a chill down her spine. DeRogna stares directly at her with such intensity that Veth wonders for a brief moment if the commander can see through Veth’s acquired helmet. The moment ends as DeRogna crumples from the blast piercing her abdomen.

Veth darts forward, and the blasts from approaching troopers break chunks of flaming wood off the corner of the house she ducks behind. When she glances out from her hiding spot again, the three troopers are already unconscious, bullet holes smoking in their chest. Veth inches back around and scans the clearing. All troopers are on the ground, weapons strewn about. No sight of the traitorous stormtrooper yet, for which Veth is grateful. She isn’t quite sure what to do about him. For now, they just need to escape.

“Get to the other ship!” she screams, running out to the crowd of halflings. “We got to get out of here!”

The halflings falter, just watching her approach. She spots Yeza in the crowd, eyes wide.

“Go to that ship! I’m right behind you.”

Yeza straightens his shoulder and shouts encouragement. “You heard my wife! Towards the other ship!”

Veth scans behind them, rifle raised, and she catches movement from the silver-armored commander. With her remaining functional arm, she throws off her helmet. Blood drips down her chin, and blonde hair falls in her face, plastered to her forehead with sweat. Yet her eyes burn with fury that is unmatched by even that of the inferno raging around her.

She clutches the wound in her stomach, and yells out, “You can run, you fucking ingrate, but I will find you. All of you miserable, ungrateful creatures will die by my order!”

As she turns to head to the ship, Veth levels one more shot with the rifle, right at DeRogna’s unprotected face. As she takes her final shot, DeRogna pushes out of the way, taking the shot in the other shoulder, and Veth screams in frustration before running to the ship.

Veth easily sprints past the slower crowd of halflings pacing with the children and elders. 

She hurries up the ramp, across the empty hold and to the front of the ship. She shoots the button to unseal the doors into the cockpit, locking them open. The sole officer jumps to his feet at her arrival, but he doesn’t get a chance to react before he has a smoking hole through his forehead. She throws her helmet to the side to get a clearer look at the flashing buttons on the dashboard. It shouldn’t be surprising that she has no idea how to fly this thing, considering she has never even been inside a space-equipped ship before this. She had flow speeders before, but this ship had more buttons and displays than anything she had seen. Veth pulls a lever and the engines whir loudly, but the ship is no higher off the ground. It would take time for her to figure this out, enough time for either the Star Destroyer to catch word of the situation, or for DeRogna to stumble aboard the ship, energized by pure rage, and choke the life out of Veth. 

There are screams behind her and adrenaline shoots through Veth’s body. She turns around, rifle at the ready.

A figure stumbles into the hold of the ship, twice as tall as a halfling, red and white armor, but no helmet on his head. His hands are above his head as he says, “I can fly this ship. I can get us out of here.”

“I won’t trust you not to take us straight into the Empire’s hand,” Veth says.

“At the moment, you don’t really have a choice. I’m guessing you don’t know how to fly the ship, otherwise you would have left by now.”

Veth hates that he is right. She walks forward, the rifle still aimed at his chest. “Slowly put down your weapons, and then get us out of here. And if you even  think about pulling anything funny, I’ll fucking kill you.”

The Scourger unclasps both his pistol holster and the fire cannisters strapped to his back. They clang to the floor, and one halfling darts forward to scoop them up and away from the human.

“Get to it then!” Veth orders, and the man briskly walks to the cockpit. She follows behind him closely, still aiming her gun. 

“Where is the nearest space port?

“Directly west of here. It’s the only port on this planet.”

“Good. We can hopefully lose the ship there,” he says, flipping a few switches. The hang door seals shut and the ship rises from the ground and accelerates forward. Veth stumbles slightly, and there are a few startled shouts from the cargo hold and halflings scramble to hold on.

The ship turns around, and DeRogna is watching from on her back. Two Scourgers are by her side, holding their own wounds. One is speaking into his comm, while the other presses her hands on DeRogna’s wounds. The commander does not look at either of them. Her gaze is trained on cockpit of the ship, straight at Veth. As Veth returns the stare, she realizes a moment too late that her helmet, any hope of hiding her identity, is rolling across the floor.

As they fly over the town, the man looks over his shoulder, and his blue eyes stare directly at Veth. “DeRogna will not stop until she finds you and me. She doesn’t like to be made a fool of, and this was suppose to be a straightforward assignment for her.”

“The destruction of my entire town, the end of my life as I knew it, was a straightforward assignment?”

The man doesn’t continues on, “She knows your face, and mine for that matter. She won’t forget.”

Veth glances at the discarded helmet. She lowers her rifle and says, “What will you do, deserter?”

“Hide,” he replies, “And hope they don’t find me.”

A blast rocks the ship, and he curses in another language. Two ship streak past them, strange ships that Veth had never seen before. They have a round central cockpit, suspended between two upright, black wings.

“TIE-fighters,” he says. “Tell everyone to hold on!”

Veth stumbles backwards, as the ship pitches sharply to the left, shouting, “Hold on to something!”

“What’s going on?” calls out a voice.

“Is it the Empire again?”

“We should just surrender!” wails another.

The ship banks to the right and Veth grabs onto the door frame to keep from falling. She looks over her shoulder, and spots in the distance the various platforms and buildings of Felderwin spaceport in the distance. 

There is a screech as the TIE-fighters swoop by, their green blasts impacting in the forest around the ship, felling trees and sending up sprays of rock and earth.

The deserter keeps the ship close to the ground, trying to avoid the enemy ships best he can. 

“How do you plan on landing?” Veth shouts out.

“I don’t plan to land, exactly,” he says.

Veth pitches forward as there is an impact on the ship. A few panels on the dashboard start flashing red and an alarm rings out. She watches out the cockpit as the spaceport suddenly looms beneath the ship. She spots people running as the ship nosedives towards a cluster of landing platforms. 

“Brace yourselves!” Veth shouts back, just before the ship crashes through a platform.

The ship hits the ground and skids across the cobble road, before slamming through a building and coming to a halt. 

The deserter slams a button, and the cargo doors whir and creak open, only a few feet. The crumpled exterior of the ship makes it impossible for them to open further. 

Halflings are already scrambling to get off the ship. Veth rushes forward, scanning for Yeza and Luc.

“Are you alright?” Yeza yells, running towards his wife. Luc is fussing quietly in his arms. Veth places her hand against his face, and then Luc’s, looking for injury. Yeza grabs her hand. “Veth, what do we do?”

“I have to get off this planet,” Veth says. “That Scourger thinks that commander will come after me.”

“We will need to go into hiding?”

“Not ‘we’, Yeza. Me. I can’t take you and Luc with me.”

Nearly all the halfling are gone when the deserter emerges from the cockpit, stripped of the armor. He wears the gray jacket of the officer, turned inside out and wearing tall black boots instead of his armored red and white ones. He still looks terrible suspicious, especially with his clean-shaven face and close-cropped red-brown hair. He says, “The Empire will be scanning this wreckage any minute. You need to leave.”

“Where are you going?” Yeza asks the man.

He looks confused for a second before pointing. “I need a ship. I need to get off this planet.”

“Let’s go with him, then.”

“Yeza, are you crazy?” Veth hisses. “He’s Empire!”

“Ex-empire, more like.”

“We have no reason to trust him!”

“We just need a way off the planet. You said that yourself.”

“No, I need a way to stay hidden. That doesn’t involve you and Luc.”

Yeza picks up his chin in a moment of defiance. “I am your husband. I’m coming with you. At least far enough that we know we can be safe for a little.” He turns to the deserter, while Veth stares at him, jaw dropped. “Please. Help us escape from this planet.”

The man has a pained look in his eyes, squeezing them shut for a moment. “It is dangerous to move in larger groups.”

“Don’t worry. We are small,” Yeza assures him. He turns to Veth. “What do you say?”

Veth thinks back to the fight, and of hopelessness of the situation had this man not turned on the Empire at the time he did. Veth still could not trust him, but he might at least be useful as of yet. 

“We will go with you,” she says at last.

The sound of TIE-fighters streak overhead, causing the Scourger to flinch. “We have to move. Now.”

He leads the family of halflings from the ship wreckage. No crowd formed around the ship. They had recognized it as Empire and try to keep their distance, as most do in the Outer Rim. Nighttime has fallen, and the poorly lit spaceport provides the perfect cover. He ducks into an alley, with the halflings following close behind. 

“I saw ships docked this way. We can sneak aboard one and try and get off the planet before the Empire mobilizes too many forces.”

Veth grabs Yeza’s hand and they continue to follow the man.

The deserter leads them into a open-air hangar, in which is a small, run down cargo ship, that he hopes more inconspicuous than the larg grain transports. The deserter signals for the family to wait while he approaches. He presses a few buttons on a nearby panel, and the boarding ramp drops open. They scurry on board, with Veth keeping watch behind, rifle at the ready.

“I will try and get this ship in the air. You all buckle up, okay?” the desert says, heading towards the controls of the ship.

“I’m coming with you,” Veth says, following him towards the cockpit. She pokes him with her rifle. “I still don’t trust you.”

A new voice says, “There seems to be a misunderstanding.”

Both Veth and the deserter turn around slowly as the another figure enters the cockpit, a gun pointed at Veth’s head. 

“You won’t be taking my ship anywhere.”


	4. Chapter 4

The newcomer is a half-orc man with green skin and two tusks peaking up over his lips. With his blaster still trained on Veth, he says, “Now I suggest you put down your rifle.”

As the deserter puts up his hands in surrender, Veth snarls in his direction, “I’m getting off this planet.”

“You should have asked nicely first. I’m feeling less generous now.”

Another figure appears, peaking over his shoulder. This one is a female tiefling, with blue skin and horns that curl around her ears. “Fjord, don’t be rude. They just want a ride.”

The half-orc hisses over his shoulder, “Now is not the time. They could be rebels, and the Empire would have our heads!”

The tiefling’s eyes grow wide at the mention of rebels and she leans over Fjord, her fingers curled around outstretched arm, like a perch. “Are you actually rebels?”

The deserter’s eyes dart to the side, feeling the Empire insignia hidden inside the jacket burn against his skin. Fjord shakes her off his arm. “Jester! You can’t be so blasé when talking about the rebellion. They could also be Empire sympathizers.”

Jester frowns. “Well, that would be unfortunate.”

At this point, a crimson and white BB unit rolls into the cockpit and flicks out a small electrified taser, and beeps menacingly. 

The deserter shuffles a bit and says, “Erm, if possible, I would like to request passage on your ship past the Empire’s star fleet and to be dropped off at the nearest space port. I understand that it would be a risk to you. In exchange, I know a little about ships. I could do some work in exchange.” He peaks over his shoulder, his eyes scanning the dashboard in a second. “I see the servo valves on the coolant are broken. That’s something I could take care of.” 

Veth clears her throat. “I have my guns and ammo, and I’m not trading that. Everything else I own was burned to the ground, along with the rest of my town.” She glares at the droid, and bares her teeth at it. The droid inches closer, the electrified taser snapping with blue electricity.

Jester’s eyes widen again. “Your whole town burned? You lost everything?” 

Veth looks up at her, and for the first time, the situation sinks in. Exhaustion hits, and she swings her rifle back over her shoulder. 

Jester pats the droid’s head, saying “You can stand down, Sprinkle.” She then spins to look at Fjord, standing on her tiptoes to get in his face. “They need our help, so we are going to help.”

“Do I not get a vote in the matter?” Fjord asks. “We are suppose to make our deliveries. We can’t just drop everything to taxi these random people to wherever they wish to go!” 

The droid whirls around now aiming its taser at Fjord.

Jester shakes her head  no emphatically and the BB unit hums, sounding eerily like a humanoid sigh. 

“They need our help, Fjord,” Jester insists, staring at him with wide, earnest eyes. 

It’s seems that is all it takes for Fjord’s arguments to melt away. He replaces his blaster in the holster. “I need to finish fueling up if we are taking off.”

She claps her hands says to her guests, “Meanwhile, I’ll give you a tour!”

The engines give a loud groan as the ship powers up, and the deserter gives a concerned look at the dashboard.

Hesitantly, Veth and the deserter follow the little blue tiefling and her overly-aggressive droid from the cockpit. 

Veth walks a little ahead of Jester, back into the hold of the ship. Jester points down a passage and says, “Our little living quarters are over there, along with a holochess table!” She starts walking that direction, but Veth veers off further into the empty hold of the ship.

“Wait, where are you going?”

Veth ignores her, and calls out, “Yeza? Yeza, where are you?”

The halfling man peaks out from behind a stack of crates. “Veth? Is everything okay? Are we taking off now?”

Jester squeals besides Veth as she spots the baby cradled in Yeza’s arms. “Oh hello! Are you all family? Aww, what’s your names?”

“I’m Yeza, and this is Luc,” Yeza responds. Veth takes Luc from his hands and pulls him close to her chest.

“These people are going to get us away from Felderwin,” Veth explains. 

“Let’s go sit in the lounge,” Jester suggests. “It’s a lot more comfy there than among the crates and things.”

They follow her further into the ship, into an circular room, with three doors leading to two small quarters and one bathroom.

“What are your names?” Jester asks, sitting down at the booth around the holochess table. “I’m Jester Lavorre.” She rolls her ‘r’ in her last name in a charming way. “And my friend is Fjord. And this!” She splays out her hands towards the red and white droid. “This BB unit is Sprinkle. He is a creature of many talents.” She hoists the droid in her arms and walks over to Luc, cradled in Veth’s arms. “Alright, Sprinkle, do your thing!” 

The droid beeps in agreement, and slot opens on its slide, extending a long, curved arm towards the baby. A circular biscuit rolls down and lands on Luc’s belly. He giggles with delight and begins to suck on the cookie. 

Jester sets the droid back down. “See? Always prepared with snacks for any occasion!”

“Does he only have cookies?” Veth asks, cautiously.

“Well, cookies are the perfect snack for any occasion. Besides, those are the only ones that really keep well inside a droid. Pastries go stale pretty quick. But anyway, what do I call you all?” she asks, and waits expectantly. 

“Um, you can call me Caleb, perhaps.”

“Is that not your name?”

He shrugs. “It was a long time ago. I haven’t used it in a while, but to be honest, Miss Jester, knowing too much about either of us-” he looks at Veth, “-could be dangerous.”

Veth’s eyes dart between Jester and Yeza. “I don’t really know what to say. I didn’t think about having to choose a new name.”

Yeza gives her an encouraging smile. “It’s up to you. You don’t need the name to still be the Veth Brenatto I know and love.”

She nods. “Call me Nott. For now, that will do.”

“Nott and Caleb. Even if they aren’t your real names, they are real enough for me! Now we are all friends,” Jester declares. She glances over at Caleb. “And as your friend, I must tell you, the black bodysuit is not a good look, Caleb. Usually you should wear armor over those things.”

Caleb’s cheeks flush slightly at this, and he rubs at his arm self-consciously. “Believe me, this was not my choice in apparel for the day.”

“I’ll go grab some of Fjord’s clothes for you to try on, okay?”

“Yeah, thank you, Miss Jester,” Caleb replies.

“Of course, friend!” She pats him on the head as she leaves, the droid chirping beside her.

Caleb glances over to Veth, or perhaps Nott for the foreseeable future, and a unexpected understanding and kinship passes between them. They feels the ship lurch as it lifts off into the air for takeoff. 

“We seemed to have stumbled upon quite the good fortune,” Caleb says.

“I’ve never had much luck, so I don’t think it will last.”

“Don’t jinx it, dear,” Yeza says sweetly. 

Jester returns a few minutes later with a worn brown coat, trousers, and a pair of sturdy boots, along with two mismatched old blasters that could fit in the empty holsters under his arms. “Here you go, Caleb. The jacket might be a bit longer on you than it would be on Fjord. And these boots are a bit older than those shiny ones you wear, but honestly, you look like a prick with boots that shiny. Now you won’t look so weird. And I assume you needed weapons. These are old blasters, but they make do.”

Caleb nods uncertainly and ducks back into Fjord’s room to change. 

“I’m glad this all worked out!” Jester says, taking a seat across the table from Luc and Veth. “It’s nice to have a little crew to travel with! Usually it is just me and Fjord. And Sprinkle, of course. Most of the time, when we fly— ”

The ship lurches just as it begins accelerating, and the passengers are thrown around the small living space. Nott clutches Luc to her chest, and braces herself against the holochess table, while Yeza and Sprinkle sprawl across the floor. Jester stumbles forward, but rights herself quickly and begins running to the cockpit, her droid following. Caleb ducks out of the room, tugging on the too-large jacket, with sleeves fall past his hands.

“What was that?” Nott calls after Jester.

“I’m sure Fjord has everything under control!” she replies. “He is an very good pilot and also very charming!”

Exchanging concerned glances, Caleb starts to rush after Jester, cuffing the sleeves of the jacket as he runs. Nott jumps down from the table and tucks Luc into Yeza’s arms. “I’ll go see what’s up,” she says. “Stay here.” And with that, she dashes towards the cockpit.

When Nott arrives, everyone is unmoving, staring out of the front skyview. Looming above their heads, blocking out the entirety of the night sky, is the silver metal exterior of a huge starship, dotted with heavy cannons and hangar bays. Patrols of TIE-fighters sweep around the exterior of the Imperial Star Destroyer.

“What’s the situation?” Caleb asks.

“They seem to be pulling us in on a tractor beam but that shouldn’t be an issue,” Fjord replies, scanning the dashboard. He looks over at Caleb. “Is that my coat?”

“Umm…” 

Before Caleb can reply, a green light flares up. “Ah, see? They are hailing us now. I can wrap this up, and we will be on our way.”

“Why would you fly into a Star Destroyer?” Nott screams.

Fjord gives her a startled look. “We are just passing through,” he says, confused. He goes to presses the receiving button on the comm.

“You can’t pick up the call!” Nott says, reaching over Fjord’s arm and trying to slap his hand away. “We just got to get away! Start flying!”

“I can’t, if we are in a tractor beam,” Fjord says, pushing her away. “I just have to talk to them, and then we will be on our way.”

“Fjord is very charming,” Jester says, placing her hand on Nott’s shoulder, and Sprinkle beeps in grudging agreement. 

Caleb is frozen in place, staring up at the Star Destroyer. Less than hours ago, he was aboard that ship, another faceless trooper in the maze of its sleek interior. He had hoped they would at least be able to leave the planet, but it appears Fjord had planned to betray them before they could even take off. Caleb wonders for a moment if he should try to incapacitate the half-orc, but as he slowly reaches for a gun, Fjord looks over his shoulder. The deserter freezes.

“Trust me,” Fjord says, looking into Caleb’s eyes. He recognizes the panic, that cornered-animal look of someone desperately scanning for an escape. He looks into Caleb’s eyes, trying to appear far more confident that he actually felt. “Trust me, and I will get us all out of here.” 

Fjord waits for Caleb to lower his hand from the gun, before flipping a switch under a blinking green light.

A crackling voice comes over the speaker. “Identify your space craft and purpose.”

“Ah, yes, hello. We are returning from a medical supply run from the Felderwin spaceport, heading to Nicodranas to continue our route.”

“We have scanned your ship for life forms. Please send your identification of all crew members aboard the ship for verification,” the voice replies. 

“Ah, that won’t be necessary. We were just on our way, and don’t want to take up any of your valuable time.”

Caleb’s eyes grow wide and he waves his hand trying to get Fjord’s attention. Fjord glances at him confused, while Caleb shakes his head fervently. 

Bad idea , Caleb mouths.

Fjord gives Caleb a thumbs up. 

Turning around, Caleb mutters, “We are all going to die.”

The voice crackles back to life. “That checks out. Identification won’t be necessary. Our time is very valuable, and you were just on your way.”

“Thank you very much for your understanding. Good day to you,” Fjord says. 

The ship shudders as the tractor beam is released. The ship flies past the underbelly of the Star Destroyer and out of the planet’s atmosphere. Caleb holds his breath the entire stretch, his eyes darting around, waiting for TIE-fighters to break formation and attack.

Yet the moment passes. The spaceship exits the atmosphere, and Fjord casually pulls a lever, rocketing the ship into hyperspace. 

“What the fuck was that?” Nott screeches. “What kind of magic fuckery was that?”

“That was impossible. The Empire doesn’t just give you a pass on identification on a planet they are invading,” Caleb says. He tries to relax the tension in his jaw, but it just sends a wave of pain through his temples.

Fjord shrugs. “I told you everything was under control. We got away, see?”

Jester pats Nott’s shoulder. “I told you. Fjord is very charming.”

Nott screams, “What the fuck?” one more time for emphasis. 

Yeza pops his head in, Luc balanced on his hip. “Everything alright, dear?”

Nott hurries to Yeza’s side, and whispers loud enough for everyone to hear, “We have been kidnapped by a fucking magic man.”

“Kidnapped?” Fjord says. “You tried to steal my ship.”

Luc giggles and makes a sound that sounds suspiciously like the word  fuck . 

Yeza sighs heavily. 

“Why don’t we all calm down a moment,” Caleb says. “Fjord, are you a magic man?”

“I don’t even know what that is suppose to mean.”

“That’s settled then. I still have questions, but for now, where are we going exactly?”

“We are heading to Nicodranas,” he says.

“Nicodranas?” Jester looks more than a little startled.

He glances over at her. “I know you aren’t really welcome back there right now, but it’s the first place that came to mind when I was getting by the Empire. I figured it’s the leader of the neutral systems, so it was safe enough to travel there for these four. In so far if that the Empire was tracking our trajectory, they would see my story checks out.” Fjord turns to his group of stowaways. “I’m assuming Nicodranas would be as good place as any to disappear from the Empire.”

“I suppose it is,” Caleb says. 

Jester squishes her cheeks between her hands, her eyes twinkling. “Oh my stars, you will  love Nicodranas! I grew up there, you know. It is the most beautiful planet in the entire galaxy. The sunrises are stunning, especially on clear days, when the light reflects and the ocean looks like  gold .”

Nott grabs onto Yeza’s arm at the mention of an ocean, and Yeza pats her hand reassuringly. 

“Being a neutral system, the Empire has very limited influence on the going-ons of Nicodranas,” Fjord says. “Lot of people go there to disappear.”

“Are we sure we trust the magic man to fly this ship over an ocean without crashing?” Nott asks. “I think Caleb should fly.”

“I’m not a pilot,” Caleb says, confused.

“What makes you think I can’t fly? I am an excellent pilot,” Fjord says. 

“Just because you can be  charming doesn’t mean you can fly this pile of junk!” Nott shrieks.

Fjord looks around and says, “What was that? I thought I heard the sound of an ungrateful stowaway  on my ship. ”

Jester jumps between Fjord and Nott. “We better go sit down for when we drop out of hyperspace,” she says, ushering Nott and her family back towards the lounge of the ship.

Caleb lingers in the doorway. “Might I stay? I can run diagnostics, and see what all I can help with.”

Fjord wordlessly gestures to the empty co-pilot seat.

Caleb’s eyes start darting over the board, and he taps a few screens. The body of the ship appears on one display, scanning for suboptimal functioning. “So do you and Jester actually do medical supply runs, or is your business more under the radar?”

“You mean smuggling?”

“I wasn’t trying to put it so bluntly, but yes. I figured “medicine” was a euphemism for spice runners.”

“I don’t deal in spice,” Fjord says darkly. “It brings out the worst in every life form. Believe it or not, I’m in the business of honest work. We deliver medical devices to the Outer Rim, different tech that are slow to make their way this far.”

“Does the tiefling work security then?”

Fjord shoots a look at Caleb. “What, you don’t think I could defend myself?”

Caleb considers for a moment. “I mean, to be fair, she has much more muscle than you do.”

“I am strong!” 

“Um, yeah. Of course.”

Fjord huffs, and occupies himself with a few gauges on the dash. “For the record, I was a supply runner before Jester joined me, and I took care of myself and my ship just fine. She originally was just looking for a ride off of Nicodranas, but the ship was temporarily overtaken by pirates, and while I certainly would have handled it on my own, it was easier to manage with another. So I asked if she wanted to join my crew, and she agreed.”

“You don’t ever see a crew of one for a ship,” Caleb says. “Usually you need other people to operate the weapons, or make repairs. Since it appears the BB unit belongs to Jester, that means you don’t even have droids to help out.”

“Don’t have much need of that.”

Caleb frowns. “But you get into scuffles with pirates every once in a while?”

“Well, yes, but I don’t really need to shoot at them. I just avoid their guns and outmaneuver them. The problem is when they get on board.”

“Your solution for pirates is to just not take damage and get away?”

“It has worked so far. I’m actually a pretty decent pilot, despite what your little halfling friend thinks.”

“Oh, she isn’t really my friend. We just met today.”

“Really? I would never have guessed. She seemed to trust you to fly this ship over me. A lot of trust to put into a stranger.”

“Yes, well, trauma tends to do that.”

An awkward silence falls between the pair. 

“What exactly happened to you all?” Fjord asks at last.

Caleb pauses from his diagnostics, and glances up at the stars of surrounding systems streaking by. He closes his eyes for a moment, and he can feel the heat of the fires burning his face, and the smoke filling his lungs.

He takes a deep, shuddering breath, and says, “A story for another time, perhaps.”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll be taking a few aspects from the TV show "The Mandolorian" for this AU, as a head's up. You don't need to have seen the show to follow, it's more like I am snagging a few lore drop details. Also, there will be nothing spoiler-y for the TV show in the series, if anyone is worried.  
> I hope you enjoy the chapter!

“Nicodranas is an amazing planet. They have so much good food, and the music is amazing, and everyone is super nice! Well, I mean, not everyone is super nice, but there are a lot of nice people there.” Jester prattles while Yeza settles down into one of the chairs. Sprinkle rolls over to a charging plate tucked in the corner of the lounge, hooks in, and a little yellow light illuminates on his head. 

Luc stretches out his chubby arms and gurgles, “Mama.”

Nott holds out her arms and takes Luc, hugging him close to her chest. 

“If Nicodranas is so amazing, why can’t you go back?” Nott asks. 

“Well, I might have played a harmless prank on a local senator. He did not take it well, so my mama suggested I take some time to explore the galaxy until things have cooled off.”

“Your mother just sent you out into a warring galaxy?” Nott says.

Jester narrows her eyes. “Mama loves me very much. She knows I can handle myself, and besides, I have Sprinkle too!”

Sprinkle chirps in agreement from his charging station.

“I have been mostly sticking to neutral star systems with Fjord. Today was the first time I ever encountered the Empire, actually.”

“Are you, like, an outlaw on Nicodranas?” Yeza asks. “Will you have to hide?”

Jester’s eyes light up. “Oh that’s a great idea! I wear a disguise and can be like an undercover spy and it will be super cool. Do you want disguises too?”

“Disguises aren’t a bad idea,” Nott says, take her own seat next to Yeza.

Jester claps her hands together, says, “I’ll be right back!” and then scatters off to another part of the ship.

There is a minute of silence between the two halflings, as they take in their circumstances. As of this morning, the family would have said they would never leave their farming village, let alone get to space. In the span of a day, everything changed. The Empire took nearly everything they had, besides each other. Veth pulls Luc closer to her chest, a sudden gratefulness washing over her.

“Hey, Veth?”

She sighs, looking towards her husband. “Yeza.”

“What’s going to happen?”

Luc begins playing with the strings of buttons she wears around her neck, sticking them in his mouth. “I don’t know for sure, but I think I need to stay away from you and Luc for a little while.”

“I do not see why it has to be that way. You heard Fjord. We can disappear on Nicodranas for a little bit.”

“If they put out a bounty on my head for the trouble I caused with DeRogna, then I don’t want to be anywhere near you when that happens. DeRogna knows my face. Even a neutral star system won’t protect me from the bounty hunters that come after me.”

Yeza takes her hand in his. “I don’t want you to be on your own. I would worry far too much.”

“It wouldn’t be forever. Just long enough that the Empire loses interest in my whereabouts.”

“Where would you go?”

“I don’t know. Maybe I could hang around with this weird crew for a bit. I’m pretty good with my rifle.”

Yeza smiles. “You are very impressive. They would be lucky to have you aboard.”

“I’ll keep in touch, best I can,” she says. “I promise.”

Yeza kisses her cheek. “You would have to promise me that you would be extremely careful. I want my wife, and Luc will want his mother.”

“I promise. No bounty hunter will get the best of me.”

After a few more minutes of silence between them, the only noise being Luc’s baby chatter, there is a pounding of footsteps, and Jester comes barreling back into the center of the ship. 

“Look at what I found!” she says, throwing a bundle of cloaks onto the ground. There is a loud metal clang amongst the fabric, and she digs through and pulls out a helmet and a mask. The mask would cover only the face, and is designed to look like a monster’s visage, with the outlines of sharp teeth and scales etched into the surface. The helmet is a sleek silver, a bit worse for wear with scratches and dents across the metal. They are stylized as if someone was trying to mimic the Mandolorian helmet but no true beskar would have scratches. True Mandolorians were extremely rare in the galaxy, but cheap knock-offs tried to imitate their look all the time. It was well known, however, that is anyone of those imitators ran into an actual Mando, they would be as good as dead for desecrating the creed.

In any case, Nott didn’t think of Mandolorians as much more than a legend. Besides, she liked the look of the helmet, and it would definitely provide anonymity. Nott set Luc in her husband’s arms, and took the helmet from Jester’s outstretched hands.

“Oh wow, you look very intimidating,” Yeza says, not in a fearful way, but more in awe. 

Jester puts on her own mask, her curled tiefling horns still visible. At a quick glance, it could almost be mistaken for her real face, besides the well-kept silky blue bob of hair, and the length of ribbon tied around her horns.

“We look so cool,” Jester says, her voice muffled and electronic, coming through the mask’s speaker.

At that moment, Caleb enters the central ship and announces they would be landing soon.

Jester leaps to her feet and wraps one of the cloaks around her like a billowing cape off one shoulder. “Disguises complete, just in time!”

Caleb frowns at Nott’s mask. “Be careful with that. You might draw more attention to yourself with that helmet.”

Nott picks up a smaller cloak, and pulls a hood over her head. “Hopefully this will be enough to go under the radar.”

“Caleb, do you need a helmet?” Jester asks. “I’m sure I can find another.”

“Actually, going without a mask would be a better disguise.”

Jester gives him a curious look, a few pieces of his story clicking together in her head, but she dismisses it as irrelevant for the moment.

Caleb notices her gaze, and clears his throat. “Take your seats, then,” he says, and returns the cockpit. 

Jester plops down beside her droid’s charging station, and opens up a panel on his side. She takes the small folded blade, and gestures Nott to come closer. “I will cut off the extra fabric. Don’t want you tripping over it.”

Nott takes a seat beside her, and she flips out open small blade, cutting through the fabric. When she finishes, the gray poncho falls to just past her knees. Nott picks up her rifle from where it leaned against the wall, and disassembles the long barrel, so it fits more inconspicuously under the cloak. 

Jester lifts the mask from her face and smiles towards Yeza and Luc. “You really will love Nicodranas. It’s always warm and there are festivals all the time! And I can introduce you to my mama. She will help you get all settled in.” She glances between Yeza and Nott, noticing the silence between them. 

“I better go check on Fjord and Caleb,” Jester announces, heading out of the lounge. “Make sure they land at the docks closest to my home.”

After she leaves, Nott takes her seat beside Yeza and Luc once more. Removing the helmet and setting it aside, she laces her fingers together with Yeza’s, and places her head on his shoulder. They sit like this, just quietly, but together, until they arrived in Nicodranas.


	6. Chapter 6

Nicodranas is the leader of the Council for Neutral Systems, the loose alliance of planets trying to resist Empire rule. While it doesn’t have much in ways of natural resources, it makes up for it in high education in the sciences and arts, and for having celebrations and music that many of the war-torn planets scattered throughout the galaxy have forfeited. For many, Nicodranas became one of the few safe havens left. Nicodranas is beautiful, with its sparkling blue waterways weaving through the city, leading out into the endless ocean. It has evergreen forests and temperate weather all year round, thanks to the main continent’s location near the equator of the planet. It is a perfect getaway and popular tourist destination for those still wealthy enough, and brave enough the risk traveling through space. On the planet itself, though, peace is duly kept. The Zhelezo are the guardians of the planet, maintaining a close eye on the workings of all the spaceports and doing their part to keep Nicodranas a symbol of peace for other systems. Any conflicts are quickly subdued, and taken out of the eyes of the public. Once away from prying eyes, it is easy enough for corruption to take root in any rank of authority. 

As the ship descends through the planet’s atmosphere, they are greeted with the expanse of deep blue waters, and a emerald gem of land cushioned at the center of the daylighted hemisphere. As Fjord steers the ship in closer towards the coast of the landmass, the waters turn bright turquoise and there is a large colorful city slowly coming into focus. 

Above the city airspace, two Zhelezo speeders glide by the ship as it heads towards the capital city of Nicodranas, L’Opale-sur-Mer. Caleb holds his breath, waiting for the inevitable transmission requesting purpose and identification, but it never comes. When he cautiously asks Jester of it, she just laughs and says: “This isn’t the Empire, Caleb.”

“Then why are they watching us?”

“They probably just scanned the ship for unusually high amounts of explosives or weapons, but other than that, just about anyone can visit.”

Caleb frowns. “That is concerning to me as well.”

Jester directs the spaceship into the city, pointing out a series of docking bays that outline the city proper, close to her home district. While Fjord pays the bay’s manager the credits for docking, Jester and Nott prepare their disguises before disembarking: Jester with her monster visage, and Nott with the imitation Mandolorian helmet. Yeza holds Luc carefully at his waist, and holds out his other hand for Nott’s as they exit down the spaceship’s plank. 

As they step out of the ship, there is a breeze smelling of sea salt gently blowing through the docks. The bays each open towards the ocean that stretches out to the horizon. Yeza and Nott stare eyes wide at the expanse, while Jester takes a deep breath, tips back the mask and closes her eyes, turning her face towards the noon-high sun.

“Alright, Jester, what’s our plan?” Fjord asks, as he closes and seals the ship in the docking bay.

Her eyes fly open and she spins to face Fjord. “I don’t know a Jester. My name is Fiona!” Jester says, in an absurd accent, drawing a green hood up to hide her horns. No one can see her face, but everyone could see hear the smile in her voice. Even Sprinkle chimes in a lower pitch, as if trying to disguise himself as well.

“Miss Fiona, my deepest apologies,” Fjord corrects. “What is our plan?”

“We are going to see Mama, of course!”

Fjord extends his hand forward. “Lead the way.”

Jester walks them through the smooth, stone streets of Nicodranas, with colorful buildings and vibrant colored glass windows lining the streets. Even the less well-off neighborhoods take great pride in the renowned Nicodranas architecture styles and glass displays. Large, green copper domes top the buildings, and the bright white sun reflects in a rainbow of colors off the windows. As they move towards a market district, the streets become crowded with vendors and patrons, moving between booths of different wares, trinkets, and sweet-smelling food.

Eventually Jester leads them through to one of the wealthier districts, taller houses and more elaborate colored glass designs. One building stands out amongst the others, with multiple clear glass and copper green paneled domes, and tall spires rising high above the surrounding buildings. There are tall marble pillars framing the large pure white doors, with gold-colored filigree accents lining the edges. 

“Welcome to the Lavish Chateau!” Jester announces, leading the group up the few marble stairs.

“Jester, is this your house?” Fjord asks, his mouth agape.

“Well, yeah. Mama lives and does her work here, so it is one part house, one part event space. Plus the restaurant. And the guest rooms.”

The group enters and before them is a huge atrium, stretching all the way up to the domes that were seen outside. Sunlight filters through the glass of the domes, illuminating the space in bright, warm light. The atrium is filled with scattered tables, covered in white table cloths, embroidered with golden thread. A stage sits at the far edge of the room, with heavy red curtains closed across it. A few patrons mingle around the tables, with fine porcelain cups balanced in their gloved hands. Set off to the side of the stage is a small band playing soft melodies that drift through the room. On either side of the room, opposite the entrance, are two curling marble staircases leading up to a wide balcony that stretches across the length of the atrium. Hallways dip around the corners and deeper into the mansion, undoubtedly leading into a maze of rooms and private event spaces.

As soon as they enter, there is a man waiting by the door, sizing up guests as they enter to ensure no trouble is to be brought down upon the Chateau. He looks to be of Minotaur heritage, with black fur covering his body, and two horns poking out from his head. Caleb tenses as the minotaur begins to motion for the group to stop, but Jester just flips up her mask and winks.

“Miss Jester! This is a surprise. So lovely to see you again,” he says. The man scrutinizes her guests with a cautious eye. “You have quite the entourage.”

“Hello Bluud!” Jester says. Sprinkle rolls up from behind Jester and chirps loudly.

“And the droid returns,” Bluud says, glancing at him warily. “I was wondering if it would have survived during your adventures.”

The droid beeps menacingly, and flicks out his electroshock attachment.

“Oh Sprinkle, you are very cute. I’m sure Bluud missed you very much.”

Both Sprinkle and Bluud made disagreeable sounds.

“Anyways, these are all my friends! We were in the system and thought I would drop by for a visit. Is Mama available to see us?”

“Yes, she is just up in her rooms catching up on the latest serials.”

Jester thanks him and quickly leads them all up towards the red-carpeted stairs that wrap upwards from the side of the atrium. Caleb can feel Bluud’s gaze following them as they go further into the Chateau. Jester hurries up the marble stairs. There is even a smooth ramp carved up the side of the staircase so Sprinkle can roll up the stairs without Jester having to carry him. 

Dozens of white and gold doors line the hallway of the second floor, and more hallways everywhere around them. With the easy practice of someone who had lived there her whole life, Jester guides them through the second floor. She turns another corner, this passage with a single set of white and gold double doors at the end, these ones with red silkd framing the entrance. She taps out a soft rhythm on the door. 

“You may enter,” calls a voice within. The doors slides open soundlessly.

“Mama!” Jester says, rushing forward. She throws off her mask and puts down the hood as she runs in. Lounging on a long, velvet couch is a beautiful tiefling woman, with bright red skin, and dark hair and horns that sweep back from her face. She wears a long silky robes and dainty white slippers, all embroidered with swirling purple motifs. Balancing in her lap in a communicator, projecting scrolling lines of text. At the sight of her daughter, she flicks off the comm and rises to her feet, her face alight.

“Oh, my little sapphire, what a pleasant surprise this is,” says Marion Lavorre, wrapping her daughter in a hug. Sprinkle rolls up beside her and chirps happily at her feet, leaning against her leg. “And dearest Sprinkle, hello. I trust you’re keeping Jester safe?” She leans over to pat the droid’s head, and he beeps affirmative.

Fjord’s eyes are wide as he puts together the pieces. The Lavish Chateau, the red tiefling… “Your mother is the Ruby of Nicodranas?”

There was no formal monarchy on Nicodranas since they joined the senate hundreds of years before. However, the people of Nicodranas still clung to the threads and formality of a royalty mostly through the sheer elegance of it all. Royal lineage had long since turned out of favor, and rising in its stead was fame. Nicodranas, known for their music, had begun to worship Marion Lavorre, the Ruby of Nicodranas, who is said to have the most beautiful singing voice in the entire galaxy. She is adored by many people and especially cherished by those of her home planet of Nicodranas, but the fact that she had a daughter that looked to be over twenty years old and kept it secret from the entire galaxy was, in itself, an impossible feat. She performs live at the Chateau, and occasionally broadcasts performances through the galaxy, though these were much more rare occurances. When broadcasts did happen, it was an event in itself on nearly every planet with radio capabilities. Businesses galaxy-wide would close and people would throw celebrations to watch the Ruby of Nicodranas sing. During her performances is one of the most unified moments the galaxy every sees. 

“I didn’t realize the Ruby had a secret daughter,” Caleb says bluntly.

“Well,  she does have a daughter,” Marion says, shooting a peculiar, vaguely threatening look in Caleb’s direction. His cheeks burn and his gaze ducks to the floor. “And it’s not that it is a secret, more so that it goes unnoticed by most people. For them, it is hard to see me beyond some sort of ethereal performer born from stardust-” she waves her hand dismissively at this description, “-when in reality, I am just a mother, and I sing in my free time.”

To suggest that Marion Lavorre just sings in her free time is truly hilarious, considering the influence, joy and certain level of fanatical worship her voice brings to the galaxy. It is no wonder her child was kept more discrete. The last thing a child needs is to be the subject of that same level of prominence. Although, to be fair, those who have met Jester do not need to know her mother to become entranced by the blue tiefling as well. 

“Introduce your new friends to me, Jester,” Marion says, glancing over at the group still standing in the doorway. 

“Of course! This is Fjord. He is very charming and a very good pilot. He flies his own ship around and delivers important medical things to people who need it.”

Marion immediately cuts a look at Fjord, who quickly bows his head in her direction and says, “I assure you, they are all law-abiding deliveries.”

Marion gives him a curt nod and returns her attention back to Jester’s introductions.

“This is Caleb, who will be joining our space crew!” Jester announces.

Caleb looks like he is ready to protest, but with the inertia of Jester’s enthusiastic introduction, he refrains.

“And this is Yeza, Nott and their baby Luc.” She leans in to whisper, “Their home was invaded by the Empire.”

Marion looks towards the halflings. “I am so sorry. Please, if there is anything I can do to help your family, let me know. Any friend of Jester’s is welcome here.”

Yeza’s eyes begin to glaze over with tears, as Luc lays sleeping in his arms, undisturbed.

“Well, Mama, I was thinking you could allow them to stay at the Chateau,” Jester says, slowly. “They could stay in my old room and everything!”

Yeza says, “We don’t have any credits to pay you, but if you could give us time to earn some, you will have your payment.”

Marion waves her hand at this. “You are welcome to stay as long as you need. I mean that. I don’t really like going out of the Chateau much, so if you want to help run a few errands for me, then we can call it a deal.”

Jester grins at this. “My mama is the best.”

Nott looks towards the tiefling woman, and removes her mask. “Less than a day ago, our family lost everything. Our home with everything we owned, our village, our neighbors, our planet even. I’ve known your daughter for even less time than that, but I can tell she is a truly good person. You raised her well. I can only hope that when I return, I can be as good a mother to my child as you are to yours.”

“I presume from the mask and what goes unsaid is that you are in some kind of trouble that prevents you from staying with your family,” Marion says, and Nott glances away. “Even Nicodranas has those under the influences of the Empire. I only ask that you help keep my daughter— my  only  daughter— safe, in all your journeys together.” She locks eyes with the three of them, one at a time. “As her mother, I ask you, her crew, to keep her safe.”

The three nod solemnly. Fjord steps forward, his hand on his chest. “I owe her a lot. But beyond that, she is the best of us. I promise to do everything in my power to keep her safe.”

“Oh Mama,” Jester says, leaning in to give her another hug, burying her face against her mother’s shoulder. “You’re embarrassing me just a little bit.”

“It’s my job,,” Marion says, and taps Jester’s nose. “Now, I will let our guests settle into some rooms, as I’m sure they are tired. But then, my little sapphire, you must tell me of all your adventures!”

Jester gives her mother another tight squeeze around her waist. “Mama, there is so much to tell!”

Marion kisses Jester on her forehead. “And many adventures to come yet still.”


	7. Chapter 7

The crew divides their separate ways for the evening. Jester stays with her mom, to tell the fantastical tales of places she has visited and people she has met since beginning her new adventures. Yeza, Nott, and Luc settle into a room themselves, with Jester ensuring they have plenty of food ordered and sent to the room. 

Which leaves Caleb and Fjord.

After deciding it would be too awkward to sit in the main dining area, dressed as shabbily as they are surrounded by patrons flaunting their extravagant evening wear, they instead retreat to a shared room on the second floor of the Chateau. Marion had said there were plenty of rooms for each to have his own, but Fjord insisted they not take up any more space than necessary. Marion glanced at them curiously before dismissing the subject. Caleb also glanced curiously, but suspected it had something to do with his very recently checkered past.

Fjord and Caleb sit across from each other on their beds, mostly silent, eating dinner that Jester again ensured was extravagant. There is a huge variety of heavily-spiced meats kept warm on silver trays, plus an entire tray of pastries and desserts. 

“I just saw the bounty go out on Nott,” Fjord says, flipping through a stream of holograms floating above his palm-sized projector. “They know her face, but don’t seem to know she traveled with a family. She will definitely have to disappear for a little while, though. Hunters might lose interest.”

Caleb doesn’t respond. He knows there is no way to remove a bounty on one’s head unless the hunters don’t think the credits will be paid. The Empire is famously reliable. Even dead, prove of a body delivered for the contract would earn a fraction of the bounty and make a humble hunter quite wealthy.

But as Caleb had watched Nott interact with her family over the past day he had known her, he felt suddenly that he needed to do all that was in his power to keep them safe. Even if that meant going up against the Empire. Especially because it meant going up against the Empire. The way her son looked her was enough to convince him. 

“Nothing out on you, though,” Fjord says, shutting down the projector. His eyes flick over to Caleb’s face, watching for a reaction.

This brings Caleb back from his thoughts and to the present conversation. He glances over at Fjord, but doesn’t respond, and his face remains blank.

“Look,” Fjord says. “I’m not the smartest, but I think I know what it means when a man with a crew cut and clean-shaven face wearing clothes fit to be worn under armor starts running away from a planet invaded by an Empire.”

Again, Caleb is silent. 

“You’re a deserter, aren’t you?”

Caleb sighs, and looks up at the ceiling. “I deserted, yes, but I wouldn’t call myself a deserter. That would be an easy title to hide behind.” 

Fjord says, “I’ve never met a deserter before. I’ve barely even heard rumor of it, although I’m sure it happens.”

“It is not terribly common,” Caleb admits. “They train us well to believe in our purpose.”

“What is your purpose?”

Caleb unbuckles the holsters around his arms, and tucks the gun under the pillow while he speaks: “We fight and kill for the glorious Empire. Unite the galaxy under a single rule. Eliminate feuds and squabble between all lifeforms by making them bow to the one true Emperor.”

The name is at the tip of both their tongues, but neither are brave enough to speak it aloud. There is not much known about the Emperor, but even speaking his name is said to catch his attention.

“So why Felderwin, then?” Fjord asks. “It isn’t exactly a planet rich in resource or trade.”

“As long as there are lifeforms to be subdued, the Empire goes there. Sometimes the most valuable resource is the fear that is ignited and spread to other planets. One brutal invasion in the system is enough to conquer all the planets.” 

Fjord sighs. “Well, I guess you just have to protect Nott from the bounty hunters while also helping Jester and I make our life-saving shipments to atone.”

Caleb’s shoulders hunch over. “That is a very bad idea.”

“You want to keep Nott safe from the Empire? Jester is already pretty set on you both joining our crew, and there is little arguing with her.”

Caleb shakes his head. “She is very enthusiastic, but I’m afraid I cannot. If my face isn’t on a bounty, that means the search is taken up by Imperial hunters instead. And I fear them far more than your typical bounty hunter.”

“We keep a low profile, and we move around a lot,” Fjord says. “It wouldn’t be a bad deal.”

“Why are you so eager to expand the crew you claim to not need?” Caleb asks. “Especially to someone ex-Empire? One who would pose such a risk?”

“Well, for one, you are completely correct that I don’t require a crew, but it sure is nice to have one. I didn’t realize how lonely everything was until Jester joined.” Fjord’s voice trails off, and he leans back against the headboard of his bed.

“It’s funny how loneliness works in that way,” Caleb replies.

“Well, second, I feel like it’s my purpose, almost? That feels too strong a word. Long ago, someone had taken a chance on me when no one else would, so I feel like I should return the favor for people who are in need a chance.”

“That’s very honorable of you, but it sounds like you could get into a lot of trouble with that mindset.”

“I wouldn’t call it honorable, just a debt to be paid. Trusting people enough to take a chance on them has gotten me into more trouble than I care to admit, but it also led me to meeting Jester. Me from before would have never taken that chance, and I would be missing out on a lot without her.” Fjord closes his eyes. “But you really are welcome to travel with us, for as long or as little as you require.”

“You are a good man, Fjord, but I don’t want you all tied down to a dead man walking.”

Fjord opens his eyes to look over at Caleb. “What is your plan then? Wander around the galaxy until they find you? Would you even put up a fight?”

Caleb’s eyes flash with more emotion than Fjord has seen from him yet, a vivid glimpse at a previously unseen potential. Fjord can’t tell if it was determination, or something more sinister that shines in his gaze.

“I would fight. With only myself to look after, I wouldn’t have anything to lose. I could make Nott disappear from the shadows. No one could track her.”

“Probably a lot easier to do if you’re traveling with us though. Just think about it,” Fjord says. “We look out for each other. Takes quite the load off your shoulders.”

“A load off the shoulders doesn’t help when the Empire knocks at your door and kills you before you can answer.”

Fjord leans back, and laces his fingers behind his head. “You say that, but I know you will join.”

“I just presented every reason I would not be joining your crew,” Caleb replies. “They are very good reasons.”

“I know, but that’s from me asking. But when Jester asks, you will agree.”

“You think I would change my mind so easily?”

Fjord laughs and replies, “Oh, I’m sure of it. Nobody can say no to Jester. That’s just a fact.”

Caleb shuffles uncomfortably. Even imagining a disappointed look on the tiefling’s face makes him doubt himself. He tries to switch the subject. “So what is Jester’s goal then, in joining your crew? Does she really intend to do supply runs until its appropriate for her to return to Nicodranas?”

Fjord lets out a deep sigh. “Jester has had this idea of wanting to find the rebellion since we met, but I don’t think she has ever mentioned that to her mother. She says that her dad is part of the rebellion and she wants to find him, but I don’t even think the rebellion exists anymore, let alone has her father leading it.” He glances over at the ex-stormtrooper. “Have you ever encountered the rebellion? Are they even around anymore?”

“I personally have never encountered the rebellion, proper. Before my more recent promotion to Scourger, I didn’t have any interaction with the front lines. I can tell you they exist, though, in their small clusters, extremely well hidden throughout the galaxy. They won’t be found unless they want to be found, and it takes a lot to draw them out.”

Fjord straightens. “So they aren’t a myth, then? Tell me, do they have Jedi, too?”

Caleb scratches his head. “No. Jedi are extinct. If any did remain, the Sith Apprentice would waste no time in killing them.”

“I wonder if they really could bring balance and peace, like the legends say,” Fjord says, thoughtfully. 

“I find it hard to believe any one life-form could bring about such change,” Caleb says. “As much as we may wish it so.”

“Maybe they are still out there, just waiting for their chance to topple the Empire.”

“For all of our sakes,” Caleb says, “I sure hope so.”

Silence falls between them again. Fjord takes their empty trays and plates back down to the kitchen, deciding the deserter didn’t present an immediate threat.

By the time he returns, Caleb has fallen asleep atop the covers of his bed, hand loosely tucked under his pillow. Fjord unholsters his own blaster, keeping it in arms reach, as he falls asleep.

  


-

  


“I’m so glad you are enjoying you adventures,” Marion says, as she runs a comb through Jester’s hair. Jester sits before her mother on the bed. She stares out the large window of the room, into the colorfully-lit night of L’Opale-sur-Mer. 

“Have you heard anything from the representative?” Jester asks.

Marion considers for a second. “Representative Sharpe is still concerning me. He never went to the Zhelezo over the communications of his you breeched. It makes me wonder what he might actually be hiding.”

“You don’t think he could be talking to the rebellion, do you?” Jester whispers.

Her mother laughs out loud and replies, “The representative is too much of a coward to take a chance on the rebellion. I would be more worried about less ethical connections.”

“Maybe you could talk to the Senator,” Jester suggests. “Let him look into Sharpe.”

“Senator Yussa is extremely busy keeping Nicodranas out of the war,” Marion says. “Besides, I think Sharpe is harmless in the end. He just tends to inflate his own importance.” With a final brush, Marion sets aside the comb.

Jester spins around, a mischievous glint in her eye. “Have you heard from Dad recently?”

Marion rolls her eyes, with a smile. “It has still been twenty-two years since I last heard from him.”

“I really think I’m close to finding him, Mama. I can feel it.”

At this, Marion frowns slightly, a small worried crease appearing at the corner of her eyes. “I truly have no idea who he is anymore, my sapphire. I’m not sure if he wants to be found.”

“But you said he was with the rebellion!”

“I said we wants to protect Nicodranas from the Empire.”

“By joining the rebellion?”

Marion sighs. “I don’t know. But Jester, this galaxy is very big. It’s near impossible to find just one man. I don’t want you limiting yourself with this quest of yours.”

“You’re probably right, Mama,” Jester says. She leans over and kisses her mother on the cheek. “Good night.”

“Good night, my little sapphire,” says Marion, smiling after her daughter as she leaves. 

Sprinkle is waiting diligently inside Jester’s old room when she enters.

“Alright, Sprinkle,” Jester says, “you know what to do.”

Sprinkle chirps in acknowledgment, and a small metal cone for detecting radio waves rises from one of the droid’s compartments. Jester sits down on the ground beside him, activating the display on her gauntlet. 

Seven flat, blue projects illuminate, with hundreds of radio waves crossing between them. Jester pulls off the gauntlet and sets it on her lap so she can use both of her hands to navigate the displays. With quick movements, she starts sorting through the different signals. She pulls out one set, sends it through a decoder of her own design, and then the signal clears up and begins replaying a message.

“An incident in quadrant four. All available Zhelezo report to the scene,” crackles a voice. 

Jester dismisses that radio wave and calls over her shoulder, “Sprinkle! You can block out that scramble set. Seems the Zhelezo have recoded since we were last here.”

Sprinkle beeps in reply, and a dozen or so of the signals disappear from Jester’s display. She glances through the bouncing signals again, and pulls out another one.

“This is a pretty crazy encryption,” Jester mutters. “It almost looks Imperial.”

Sprinkle chirps defensively, and dismisses that signal from Jester’s display.

“Hey! I was looking at that one!”

The droid begins chittering quickly.

“I know, I know. It’s dangerous, but if the Empire are in contact with someone on Nicodranas, shouldn’t we know?”

With a definitive low beep from Sprinkle, Jester groans. “Fine, I’ll keep looking.”

She picks through another thirty or so radio waves, sending them through the decoder before sighing in frustration. It replays back a whole variety of communications, from shipment orders to family videomail to news on the latest Imperial invasions. 

“I thought for sure there would be something to pick up on!” She stares at the signals scattered across her displays, before her eye catches on a tiny fragment of coded encryption, tacked on to the end of one of the signals she already ran through the decoder.

“Wait, Sprinkle, can you scan the communications, looking for this pattern? I feel like I’ve seen it before.”

Sprinkle chirps, and the signals reorganize on the displays, lining up the tail ends of the encryptions for Jester to see.

“There it is again!” Jester says. She picks out a few communications leaving the planet and pins them to the side. “Keep looking for that signal pattern!”

Sprinkle beeps lows and slowly. 

“What? You can’t be tired already! This could be our first lead on a rebel encryption!” 

Another sad  bweep-boop.

“Just a little longer,” Jester says. “And then I will wake up Fjord to get your charging pad from the ship.”

Her eyes scan through the encryptions as they scroll down her display, picking out ones with the familiar pattern.

“It’s not a simple encryption,” Jester comments. “But I think I can at least figure out where it’s heading. It seems to be tagging along to any communications going to the Marrow system.”

She sends another dozen signals through her decoding, slowly assembling the fragmented message, until it finally triangulates.

“Zadash!” Jester cheers, jumping to her feet. “This signal is being sent to Zadash!” 

Sprinkle beeps in celebration, but still with the lethargy of a fading battery.

“Okay, okay, okay,” Jester says to herself. “This is good. This is really good. Now we just have to get your charging panel and see if we can decode the message.”

She dismisses the displays, and activates a new function on her device, easily connecting to Fjord’s communicator.

“We’re close, Sprinkle,” Jester whispers. “I can feel it.”


	8. Chapter 8

Darkness had long since settled over the city, with only a half moon and spattering of stars illuminating the sky. The room where Fjord and Caleb sleep is silent, save for the soft hum of voices and music from the city outside their window. 

On the bedside table, a communicator illuminates with a ring of yellow light and beeps softly, before crackling to life. At the sound, Caleb’s eyes fly open, and his hand is already reaching for the blaster beneath his pillow.

“Hey! Hey, it’s Jester,” a voice says, scratchy and loud over the comm’s speaker.

“Jester?” Fjord says, rubbing his eyes awake and sitting up slowly. He picks up the communicator. “How did you— my communicator was turned off. How did you turn it on?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Jester says. “I have a mission for us!”

“Is everything okay? Are you hurt?” Fjord asks quickly.

“What? No, no, no, nothing like that. I just forgot Sprinkle’s charging base at the ship, and he is fading fast.”

In the background, there is a slow, low-pitched  bweeop-boop.

“ What time is it?” Fjord asks. “Can this not wait until morning?”

“You would let Sprinkle suffer like that? You would let him  die??”

“Sprinkle cannot suffer and die, because Sprinkle is a droid,” Fjord says. 

There is a very loud mechanical wailing sound over the comm.

“Fjord!” Jester hisses into the communicator. “Sprinkle doesn’t like to be reminded he is a D-R-O-I-D. Don’t distress him anymore than he already is.”

Fjord shoots a look at Caleb, who is still tensed, eyes darting around. At this Fjord sighs, and says, “Alright, we can go to the ship.”

Caleb’s brows furrow and he shakes his head  no .

Fjord shrugs as Jester responds, “Okay, okay, I will be right over and we can get going.”

As the communicator clicks off, Caleb gives Fjord a stern look.

“You can’t say no to that woman, can you?” Caleb says. “We don’t want to draw any attention to ourselves.”

Fjord shrugs again, and begins to lace up his boots. “You will find out soon enough. Nobody can say no to Jester. Besides, I want to check on the ship anyway, and make sure those docks are secure.”

“You may be charming but that is a terrible lie,” Caleb says, turning to grab his own jacket.

“You don’t have to accompany us,” Fjord says. 

Caleb doesn’t respond, just secures the gun in the holster strapped under his arms. Fjord grins into the darkness, where Caleb cannot see. Jester is already having an effect on the deserter. 

Jester knocks on their door not much later, flinging it open with her foot, the red and white BB unit cradled in her arms. She has her green cloak tied around her shoulders, and hood drawn up.

“You’re ready?”

“We plan to come back before morning, correct?” Caleb says.

“Well, of course. It’s the middle of the night! I still need to sleep.”

“You haven’t slept yet?” Fjord asks, and Jester gives him an innocent, wide-eyed look.

She leads them out into the streets of Nicodranas, Sprinkle still cradled in her arms. The city still has lights on throughout the capital city, with squads of local law enforcement patrolling, but none stop the crew as they walk purposefully through the streets. They get a few looks towards Caleb, due to his intense observation of the surroundings, at which Jester bumps him playfully with her hip.

“Relax! I promise, we are safe here,” she says.

Caleb glances at her skeptically, but softens his posture slightly. 

There is music drifting from a variety of cantinas along the way, and raucous noise coming from a handful of them, but still no suspicious figures or lifeforms looking for a fight. Jester steps in time with the music, swinging Sprinkle back and forth. Fjord and Caleb still stay on high alert, but Jester is completely at ease in these streets. As they leave the nightlife districts, the streets grow quiet and Jester falls back into her normal gait, still energized by the familiar sounds and streets of home. 

As she guides them back to the docking bays, Fjord feels a chill go down his spine, like he can feel someone’s attention focused on them. He subtly glanced around, without moving his head, to try and catch sight of anyone tracking them. As they round a corner, Fjord glances backwards, but there is no one behind them. 

“Does anyone feel like we’re being watched?” Fjord asks in a low voice.

Caleb’s hand goes to the gun under his jacket, and his gaze flickers around, immediately assessing the surroundings. Jester stops as well, scanning for movement.

Above Fjord’s shoulder, atop a low building, Jester catches sight of a quick shadow moving through the darkness. 

“Wait, did you see that?” Jester asks, stepping around Fjord and glancing into the dark alley. 

There is another flicker of movement in the shadows, moving away from them, and Jester’s eyes go wide. 

“Watch over Sprinkle!” Jester says, as she shoves Sprinkle into Fjord arms. Fjord stumbles as the weight is transfered to his arms, and she darts in a darkened gap between two low brick buildings.

Fjord grimaces in pain. With a strained voice, he calls out, “Wait! Jester, where are you going?”

Jester disappears into the alley, and Caleb quickly follows behind, leaving Fjord trying to try and adjust his grip on the heavy, metal droid. 

Just ahead, Caleb and Jester spot a shift in the shadows above, gliding over rooftops. As they follow, they see a shadow curve around a corner and enter an empty docking bay.

“Jester, what are you doing?” Caleb hisses, grabbing her wrist to keep her from running into the empty docking bay.

“I think they were following us,” she whispers, glancing around the empty docking bay. “You saw that too, didn’t you?” 

The sound of an engine grows loud, and the shadow of the vehicle falls over them. Caleb and Jester press back into the alley as a sleek, four-person speeder flies overhead and lands at the dock. There are two shapes sitting in the front of the open speeder, outfitted in Zhelezo uniforms. The third figure sits in the back, a hood drawn up over their face.

“Jester, it’s nothing. We should leave,” Caleb whispers.

“Wait, I know that speeder.”

“So what if you do? We shouldn’t get involved in any business that happens in the middle of the night.” 

There is another hum of an approaching engine, and a small landing ship descends from the sky. It’s an inconspicuous ship, with no identifying markings. The ramp to the ship’s hull lowers, and four figures emerge, not wearing uniforms, but still moving in a formation. Caleb’s breath catches in the back of his throat. Even without the armor, the uniformity of trained stormtroopers is difficult to disguise.

“Jester, we need to get out of here,” Caleb whispers, his eyes darting between the figures.

Jester shushes him, presses a few buttons on her bracer, and holds it out towards the crowd. A blue image shimmers as it appears to scan the scene, and the digitized shadow of the person in the speeder glows. She presses another button on her wrist, and the shadows shimmer and reassemble into a face.

“That’s Representative Sharpe,” she whispers, deactivating the blue of her bracer. “What is he doing out here?”

“We need to leave, Jester,” Caleb says again, his voice shaking. “They are Empire.”

“Empire?” Jester says, eyes wide. Her eyebrows furrow as she thinks through the communications she and Sprinkle had been scanning. Maybe the Imperial encryption she had spotted was a lot closer to home than she realized.

Behind them, they hear Fjord call out for them. Caleb freezes as all the faces spin towards Fjord’s distant voice, and directly into the shadows where he and Jester are hiding. 

Jester hurries to switch over to comms. “Quiet, Fjord! We are spying!”

On the platform before them, one of the disguised Imperials reaches into his cloak and pulls out a little black sphere. The sphere hovers above his hand, sprouts an antennae and unfurls a few dangling appendages beneath the metal body.

Caleb’s eyes go wide as he recognizes an Imperial spy drone. 

“We have to go,” Caleb says, grabbing Jester’s arm again. 

“I want to record their conversation,” Jester replies. “Just give me a minute.”

“They cannot find us, and if we hang around, that drone will pinpoint our location. We have to leave, now.”

Reluctantly, she deactivates her bracer. “At least I have their faces recorded.”

She follows Caleb back into the alley. They quickly retrace their steps back towards Fjord.

When he spots them, he takes a deep breath. “I was starting to get worried. What do you mean you’re spying?”

“Ran into a bit of trouble,” Jester says. “Not a problem, but we should probably walk away very quickly.” 

Behind them, there is a faint whirring around as the spy drone turns a corner, hovering down the street, scanning the scene with a red beam. 

“What’s that?” Fjord asks, his arms still trembling from the weight of the dying droid.

“Bad news,” Caleb mutters, and grabs Fjord’s arm, steering him down another alley, following Jester. They weave through a few empty roads, moving quickly through the dark.

“Can’t we just shoot the thing?” Fjord asks.

“If you miss, it will immediately send out a signal calling every Imperial sympathizer to this very spot. We would be cornered in an instant.”

“I’m a pretty good shot.”

“It’s no larger than a hand’s width and you can’t get close enough for its beam to identify your features. I don’t trust anyone with those odds.”

“Can we outrun it?” Jester asks, pushing ahead, further through the maze of streets surrounded by short, darkened buildings.

“It might be able to track our recent footsteps,” Caleb warns. “We need to get to a heavily trafficked area if we hope for it to lose the trail.”

“I feel like we’re getting close to the entertainment district,” Jester says, rounding another corner.

She stops suddenly, and Fjord and Caleb slam into her. Before them, a wall rises up, cutting off their path.

“Hurry, we need to go back!” Jester says, spinning around.

They start towards the connecting street, but the humming of the drone grows even louder, and its red beam passes over the space in front of them, just around the corner.

Caleb removes the blaster from his jacket, getting ready to shoot, when a shadow moves above them.

Just as the drone rounds the corner, a figure slides off the roof, with the barest sound of shoes scraping against tile. The figure pushes off the wall, and lands feet first on the drone, crumpling it beneath their weight, without getting caught in its scanning beam. 

Jester and Fjord stare at the figure, and Caleb shifts his aim towards them. 

“You can get in a lot of trouble, wandering these docks at night,” the figure says. They have a dark cloak over their shoulders, hood pulled low over their eyes, and a dark cloth wrapped over the bottom of their face. The shape of two long ears are visible out beneath the hood, though, giving away elvish heritage. Dark brown skin peaks out from the gaps between their gloves and sleeves.

“You are not wrong,” Caleb replies, gun held steady. “If you would kindly move, we would like to be getting on our way.”

“I can do that,” they reply, “and in exchange, the tiefling hands over the footage she caught.”

“That is evidence. I can’t just hand it over to a stranger,” she replies. “The authorities need to have it!”

“You think the authorities of this neutral system would do anything? You mean the same authorities that escorted the Representative to the docks?” the figure asks. “You can’t trust them. Besides, everyone fears the Empire. No one in authority would dare move against Sharpe knowing he has them as allies.”

“And what would you do differently, if she hands over the evidence?” Caleb asks. 

Their eyes, darkened beneath the hood, scan Caleb with a discerning glare. He feels his neck grow warm, and his hand tenses around the blaster, aiming steady. 

“I would give it to someone who doesn’t fear moving against the Empire,” they reply. “Someone who can move carefully enough to not put this planet at risk.”

“Like someone in the rebellion,” Jester says, her eyes wide in wonder. “You are with the rebellion, aren’t you?”

Fjord curses just as his arms give out, dropping the droid to the ground.

Jester cries out and hurries to Sprinkle’s side when the figure makes their move.

They dart down, low to the ground, straight towards Caleb. They knock the weapon from his hand, and punches him square in the chest. 

A moment too late does Caleb remember he isn’t wearing his stormtrooper chest plate, and he feels the full force of the blow radiate across his ribs. His gun goes flying from his hand, and the elf snatches the gun out of the air, and level it towards Caleb. Fjord draws his out his own weapon and aims it at the figure. 

Jester is crouching beside Sprinkle, who beeps slowly in his fading battery life. Her eyes flick between Fjord, Caleb, and this rebel spy. 

“You are a peculiar bunch,” they say. “But I’m not leaving without that evidence.” 

Jester frowns, and turns to Sprinkle. “Do you have one more message left in you?”

The droid beeps slowly, but confidently, the small antennae flickering blue. Jester presses a few buttons on her wrist, and a communication device that neither Fjord or Caleb notices chimes on at the figure’s belt. 

The eyes beneath the shadow of their hood narrow towards Jester. “Quite a talent you have there. Almost like you have picked up my signal before.”

Jester only smiles sweetly, and taps a few more buttons on her wrist. “There, the evidence is deleted from my files. Let me know if there is anything else we can do to help you and your cause.”

The figure lets out a disapproving grunt. “Forget this ever happened. That is how you can help.”

“We can’t help the rebellion?” Jester presses.

Fjord, Caleb and the figure all reply, “No!” simultaneously, to Jester’s intense disappointment. 

Without another word, the elf places the Caleb’s gun on the ground in front of them, and melds back into the shadows of the alley, disappearing with soft receding footsteps.

“What were you thinking?” Fjord hisses. 

“I don’t want to just sit by while the Empire infiltrates Nicodranas!” 

“And this doesn’t have anything to do with you father?” Fjord says.

“So what if it does? I could find my dad and keep my home planet safe!”

“The rebellion is fighting a war,” Fjord says. “We are not equipped for that!”

Caleb clears his throat, scanning the windows of the nearby buildings for any sign of movement. “Perhaps we continue this conversation later?”

Sprinkle sighs, as much as a droid can sigh, and his light flickers off, falling into low power mode. Jester scoops him up without a word and starts heading in the direction of the rest of the docking bays. Silently, Fjord and Caleb follow behind. 

And just out of sight, a few blocks behind, the shadowy figure follows the trio back to the ship. As the three enter the ship, the elf secures a tracking beacon to the exterior, and then disappears back into the city. 


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning, the crew leaves the Lavish Chateau just as the sun rises. Yeza gently wakes Luc from his surprisingly peaceful sleep to say goodbye. Luc’s eyes are barely open as Nott cradles the child in her arms, pressing a little kiss to his forehead. Jester hugs her mother, promising to send lots of communications when she has the chance, and promises Yeza that he will get many messages as well.

“You take of each other,” Marion says, glancing between them all. “Keep each other safe. As much as I want Jester to return to me safe and sound, I don’t want her heart broken along the way.”

“Rest assured,” Fjord says, looking first at Marion then towards Yeza, “we will return when we are able.”

Nott passes Luc back over, her eyes pinching closed. Yeza uses his free hand to tuck the string of buttons beneath the collar of her tunic. 

“You’ll stay hidden?” Yeza says.

“I’ll be invisible,” Nott replies. She glances over at Jester, who has her own mask in hand. With a heavy sigh, she puts on the imitation Mandolorian helmet, and they leave the Chateau behind. 

In the rising daylight, they return to the docking bays, and Fjord unlocks and lowers the ship’s ramp for entry.

“Let’s set course for Damali to get our next supply run cargo. We would be a few days early, but probably best to keep moving,” Fjord says. “I’m going to go finalize the docking payment. Caleb, you seem to know your way around a ship. You can plot our course so we can leave when I get back.”

Caleb furrows his eyebrows. He has fixed ships, but never has be programmed navigation. Either way, he doesn’t wish to disappoint his crew so early in the day so he heads towards the cockpit. If this is going to be their arrangement, he will need to be a fast learner.

Jester taps a freshly-charged Sprinkle with her foot, and the two of them follow closely behind Caleb, while Nott lags behind for a moment. She looks out over the oceanfront the docking bay faces. Through the mask, everything is slightly red-tinted, and she can’t smell the salt of the waves. Already, she hates this helmet. 

Just as she turns to enter the ship, she catches sight of Zhelezo passing by, and her heart leaps into her throat. Could they be looking for her? She doesn’t know who the Empire knows. She turns her back to the patrol, adjusting the pack over her shoulder, trying to become an invisible stranger they are passing. Without hesitation, the patrol passes by.

You’re overreacting , Nott thinks to herself. A finger taps on her shoulder, and she leaps backwards, her heart rate skyrocketing again.

“Whoa there,” says Fjord. “It’s just me.”

“You can’t just sneak up on a wanted criminal like that!” Nott screams.

“If you quit shouting about being a wanted criminal, you’ll probably be better off,” Fjord says, arms crossed.

Nott just shakes her head and walks towards the ship.

Fjord takes a few large strides to fall in step with her.

“Hey, I apologize,” he says. “No more sneaking. That will be your job.”

“Damn right,” Nott says. “Don’t forget it.”

Inside the ship, Caleb is staring at the different displays around the cockpit.

“Hello Caleb!” Jester says.

“Hello Jester,” he responds, his eyes scanning the dashboard. 

“You know, if you need help navigating, Sprinkle is your dude!” she says, and beside her the droid hums happily. “Sprinkle can definitely program the navicomputer. And then you can be all set to add a location.”

“Very well. Erm, Sprinkle? Take it away.” Caleb gestures towards the droid connection port beside the pilot seat. 

“You know what to do Sprinkle!” Jester says and gives the droid a wink. 

Sprinkle beeps happily and then connects to the ship’s computer system.

Caleb takes a seat in the co-pilot’s station, trying to familiarize himself with the equipment.

“Does Fjord not usually let Sprinkle navigate?” Caleb asks, checking a few engine diagnostics.

“I bet he just wanted to let you feel included,” Jester says. “Sprinkle has navigated all over, for sure.”

A few minutes later, Sprinkle chirps a tune, and disconnects from the port, just as Fjord enters the cockpit. 

“All ready, navigator?” Fjord asks, patting Caleb on the shoulder.

“Yes, pilot man…?” Caleb responds, his voice raising in a question.

“Um, yes. You can just call me Fjord,” he says. “I think I’m just excited to have a proper crew with me for the first time in a while. It’s all quite exciting. Reminds me of old days.” Fjord smiles, flips a switch, and the engines of the ship roar to life. 

“Next stop: Damali,” Fjord says. 

As the ship hovers above the city, Nott removes the helmet and peaks out the front view port. She looks over the planet of Nicodranas as the ship flies up through the orange and gold morning sky and back among darkness of space. Fjord pulls a silver lever, and the hyperdrive activates, rocketing them through the stars. Quietly, Nott slips away.

“Is she going to be okay?” Jester whispers to the two of them in the cockpit.

“She needs to adjust,” Caleb says. “We both do.”

“You could try introducing her to the holochess table,” Fjord says. “Take her mind off things.”

“That’s a great idea, Fjord,” Jester says, jumping to her feet. “Come on, Sprinkle. Let’s go do some cheering up.”

Fjord rests his head against the back of the chair as Jester leaves and sighs, “Do we tell Nott about last night? About the Empire and rebellion… encounters?”

“It shouldn’t be a concern going forward, correct? We are just supply runners now.”

“I suppose,” Fjord says, “but I don’t know if Jester can be so easily dissuaded.”

With the ship navigating for the trip across to Damali, Fjord and Caleb return to the ship lounge, where Jester and Nott are playing holochess. They sit around a checkered, circular board, with hologram creatures flickering in different colors around it.

Nott screams as Jester’s purple monster suplexes Nott’s into the board, and Jester laughs maniacally.

“It’s not over yet!” Nott declares, and another monster moves forward, only to be taken down yet again by Jester’s piece. In a huff, Nott slouches in the chair, muttering, “This game is rigged.”

“That’s one way to get her mind off things,” Caleb murmurs, and Fjord smiles.

“I am the champion of holochess!” Jester announces, standing up in her seat and bracing one foot on the table.

“We will see about that,” Nott says darkly, and slams the restart button, and shuffles away from the board. “I need to strategize!” she announces.

Fjord sits down across the Jester at the board. “Might I take you on next, Jester?”

Jester rubs her hands together and grins. “If you DARE!”

Nott glares in the direction of the holochess board. “I will figure out that game, and I will beat everyone in the galaxy.”

“That would be quite an accomplishment,” Caleb responds, settling in across the room. Nott huffs, and sits down beside him.

“Do you intend to stay with them?” Nott asks in a hushed voice, as the pieces reset across the holochess table. 

“I hadn’t thought so,” Caleb admits, “but it seems I am here now.”

Nott grunts in agreement. 

Caleb’s mind darts back to the night before, and he considers how to potentially approach the subject, but every scenario he runs through doesn’t seem right.

After a while, Jester leaps to her feet again, whooping, and Sprinkle rolls in cheerful circles around the board.

“I am victorious yet again!” she announces.

“You got me,” Fjord says, raising his hands in surrender. He glances over at Nott. “How about a loser’s bracket?”

“You don’t stand a chance, string bean,” Nott says, and she scurries over to the board.

“You don’t want to play, Caleb?” Jester asks, tapping Nott’s hand as she trades places. 

“No, that’s alright. I enjoy watching you all.”

“I have a subscription to a few digital libraries, if you ever get bored,” Jester says. “I use them to read serials that come out every few days. I read the same ones as Mama so when I do get the chance to send her a message, we always talk about the latest updates. But there’s lots of stuff to read! We spend a lot of time in transit here, so it’s a way to pass time.”

“That’s very kind Jester. Thank you.” 

Caleb and Jester’s attention focuses back to the holochess board, where Nott is already yelling and trying to jump across the table at Fjord.

“There is no way you could have anticipated that move!” Nott says. “You cheat! You’re a cheater!” 

Fjord leans back, and threads his fingers together behind his head. “I’m just really good at the game. What can I say?”

“You didn’t beat Jester!” Nott says. Her eyes narrow. “Did you let her win?”

“No, of course not!” Fjord says. 

Jester leans over to Caleb and says, “He definitely lets me win. I make stupid moves on purpose to see how far he is willing to go.”

Caleb smiles at this, staring straight ahead, but the smile doesn’t quite reach his eyes. 

“You are staying with us, right Caleb?” Jester asks, suddenly earnest.

Caleb looks over at the tiefling. Skies, Fjord was right. The thought of saying no to her feels impossible.

“I suppose I am,” he replies, and Jester grins.

“You’re a liar and a cheater!” Nott screeches, and she slams the reset button on the board. “This time,  I will end you.”

Amid the chaos, Sprinkle begins beeping loudly, circles around Jester’s legs and then speeds off towards the cockpit.

“What’s wrong, Sprinkle?” Jester ask. As she stands to follow, just as the ship begins shaking violently. Alarms blare throughout the ship, and red lights around the room start flashing on and off.

With a violent shake, the ship tips sideways, and Caleb catches Jester’s hand to balance both of them.

Fjord jumps to his feet and best he can stumbles towards the cockpit.

“We shouldn’t be anywhere near Damali yet!” he shouts back. 

Caleb, Jester, and Nott follow him to the cockpit, cramming into the space to look out through the glass.

Instead of the streaking blue and white of hyperspace, they are greeted with a pale blue sky above and white clouds below, in some planet’s atmosphere. 

Fjord tumbles into the pilot’s seat, and turns on manual control, just as the ship ducks beneath the clouds and emerges below. As the cloud line clears, they see an expansive dark green line of trees approaching at incredible speeds. 

“Hold on!” he says, pulling up the nose of the ship. Jester grabs onto Fjord’s chair while Nott and Caleb slam into the back of the cockpit. 

The ship turns upward, and everyone can hear the tops of trees smashing and breaking under the ship. Fjord steers the ship upwards, just as the speed begins to wane to more manageable levels. The clouds begin thickening around the ship again.

They are back up in the cloud layer when Fjord spins around in his chair.“So, navigator, what happened there?” Fjord asks.

“I’m not sure. I let Sprinkle program the navicomputer for Damali,” Caleb says. “I thought that would be sufficient.”

Fjord spins to face Jester. “Is Sprinkle programmed to set any navicomputer?”

“Well, he’s not exactly  programmed for that,” Jester says, and she presses her fingertips together. “But I figured it wasn’t hard! You just have to travel in hyperspace until you reach the planet!”

“The hyperdrive isn’t meant to accelerate through a planet’s atmosphere!”

“Don’t blame Sprinkle! This was his first time setting the navicomputer!”

“I thought a BB unit was suppose to be programmed to navigate,” Caleb says.

Jester crosses her arms. “My BB unit is very special. I programmed him myself.”

Without warning, Fjord whips back around to look out the front window, and yanks the ship to the side.

It’s only after the clouds break around the ship that everyone else sees what they just avoided: a gray and white sheet of mountain rock. He pulls the ship lower and out of the clouds once again and they all see the mountain range stretched out before them, as far as the eye can see.

“Good reactions, Fjord,” Jester says after a moment, her voiced pitched high out of mild terror. 

“I’m going to be sick,” Nott mutters, and slumps against the back wall.

“Where are we?” Fjord demands, maneuvering the ship through the sheer rock faces of the mountains. 

Caleb steps forward and scans the dashboard of the ship, before his eyes snap to Jester. “You sent us to Zadash?”

“Jester!” Fjord says.

“What?” Jester throws her hands up in the air. “Sprinkle programmed the navicomputer!”

“What’s on Zadash?” Fjord demands.

“Just a lead I wanted to follow up on!” Jester says. “I think it will be helpful for us, to protect us from the Empire!”

“You don’t think the Rebellion is here, do you?” Caleb asks.

“I don’t know, maybe?” Jester says. “They do a pretty good job of hiding from the Empire, you know.”

With her head tucked between her knees, Nott moans.

The ship slows to a reasonable pace, and banking sideways to skim through a few wide crags in the range. Around them, the mountains seem to grow even taller, with large arches and cliffs making it difficult to navigate directly back into the atmosphere. 

“We will probably need to land somewhere to take care of the ship before leaving here,” Caleb says, checking a status scanner that is flashing red and yellow. “We seem to have sustained some damage from the trees.” 

“And then we leave,” Fjord says. “We don’t need to get involved with the Rebellion.”

There is a loud thud on the top of the ship, and everyone glances up. 

“What was that?” Jester asks. Nott removes her gun from her shoulder. 

Caleb glances at the exterior scanner, which displays the outline of a humanoid ship standing atop their ship. He looks around at the crew, and says, “I think the Rebellion already found us.”

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> We've reached the end of Episode I: The Fugitive of Felderwin! I hope you've enjoyed the journey so far, as much as I've enjoyed sharing. Get ready for the next part of the adventure next week when we continue with Episode II: The Warrior of the Broken Creed.  
> PS, each episode title will be a nod to one of the Mighty Nein... Can you guess who is next? ;)
> 
> Also- [Here's a drawing of Jester and Sprinkle!](https://everlightly.tumblr.com/post/620835495997571072/click-for-better-quality-critical-role-meets) Will I ever draw the rest of them? Maybe, but Jester and Sprinkle were my priority. Find me @everlightly on Tumblr if you wanna talk about Star Wars or Critical Role :D
> 
> As always, thank you so much for reading! See you all next week for Episode II....


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